What is the cost of driving from Toronto to Orlando?

[cslittle999]

Our experience is that driving down costs around $1000. We make the trip down a little cheaper by bringing breakfast and lunch along. The trip back is a little more expensive because we take an extra day. I tend to discount the wear and tear on the vehicle factor because for me it works out to around a month and a half of commuting. Not a big deal in the life span of a vehicle. Long steady highway driving is likely easier on the vehicle than the stop and go commuting in any case.

I think the key factors in choosing whether to drive over flying are: do you have the extra vacation time, do you want a vehicle available in Orlando and do you enjoy driving together as a family. If you answer no to any of these then I would fly.

We fly for the shorter trips and drive for the longer ones. We own DVC so we tend to get a one bedroom for the longer trips. Having a vehicle to go to the grocery store and to offsite restaurants helps make the stay in Orlando cheaper.

 

[cslittle999]

For our family of 5 it is definitely cheaper to drive as we can only fly during school breaks and we always fly out of Buffalo. I don't know why the price of food is calculated into the cost of driving because you're going to be eating whether you're driving or at your destination.

I personally like the drive and we've done it many times over the past 15 years.

Whether or not you include the cost of food depends on how you look at the drive. If the length of the stay in Orlando is the same driving or flying then any expenses incurred during travel are part of the comparison. If your total vacation time is fixed then it wouldn't be but then how much time you get in Orlando is part of the decision making instead.

 

[papertraveller]

Thanks for all the details. The numbers are quite compelling, now that I've checked the cost for flights at Christmas. Plus, my husband is itching to do the drive.

Our December trips are off-site, which means we rent a car. We're usually lucky if we get it for $500.
So it may make sense to drive when we will be off-site and need the car; fly when we're on property and can use ME.

So three tickets from Buffalo would be $1,200 (ballpark).
Night at Buffalo hotel: $150
Car rental: $500
Grand total: $1850

Driving: $600 (approximately - our vehicle uses premium gas)
Hotels: $450 (one on way down, two on way back)
Grand total: $1,050

Am I missing something? Seems next that the issue is putting a value on the time spent driving, which would vary by the family's circumstances.

 

[cslittle999]

Traveling in December brings weather into play. Both routes from the Toronto area have sections where bad weather could make driving challenging. You can get delays with flying too but the impact is typically less, especially if you book direct flights.

 

[Evelyne]

For gaz, between 250$- 400$, depending on what kind of car you have and what roads you will use to get there. We always drive staight ( more than 20 times) it is a 24h drive, we don't stop in restaurants on the way, we bring a lunch box.
Have a safe and magical trip.

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century
2012 The World was great again (Pop Century) without the kids for the 1st time
March 2013 Disneymoon with the kids

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[abdmom]

I think that you should include wear and tear on your vehicle. For a minivan, that's about 27 cents per mile. For a trip of 2139 miles (my midtown Toronto house to Epcot) that would be $577. That does not include the wear and tear on the vehicle from driving around during the trip.

 

[PanamaMike]

I think that you should include wear and tear on your vehicle. For a minivan, that's about 27 cents per mile. For a trip of 2139 miles (my midtown Toronto house to Epcot) that would be $577. That does not include the wear and tear on the vehicle from driving around during the trip.

Toronto to WDW is 2139 kilometres, not miles.

 

[abdmom]

Toronto to WDW is 2139 kilometres, not miles.

Sorry, should have said roundtrip. 1700+ kilometers each way - Checking googlemaps again, I see that it gave me as the crow flies distance the first time. That should be 2100+ km x 2 or 4200 km total roundtrip. Canadian Black Book value puts the depreciation at $700 for my 2008 Sienna if I were to put another 4200 km on it right now and around from $300 if it were 3 years older.

 

[braddillman]

So it looks like driving from southern or eastern Ontario or Quebec costs between $600 (drive straight through) to $1,800 (high side) and takes 21+ hours of driving each way.

But this cost is fixed per car, not per person.

So, take the table below using a trip cost of $1,000 vs. a flight cost of $350pp. I know those are going to vary widely depending on various factors. This is just 'a stake in the ground.'

1 person: $1,000pp drive vs $350pp fly - $650 cheaper to fly
2 people: $500pp drive vs $350pp fly - $300 cheaper to fly
3 people: $333pp drive vs $350pp fly - $50 cheaper to drive, probably worth it to fly
4 people: $250pp drive vs $350pp fly -$400 cheaper to drive
5 people: $200pp drive vs $350pp fly - $750 cheaper to drive

Higher flight cost and higher number of travelers point to driving. Shorter vacations and seat sales point toward flying. There are valid cases for each.

Similar arguments can be made in general for staying on/offsite.

For smaller families staying onsite and using DDP can make sense. For larger families staying offsite (for more room than a hotel room) and making a few meals vs. paying for dining out makes a big difference.

We haven't driven but are planning to try it for xmas 2013. Xmas flights aren't cheap and we're a family of 5, which magnifies the difference. It's not just a few $$$, but several thousand $$$ for us.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We drove through last May just to see what it was like and our small car costs us $334. Going there we drove straight through but we made a couple of rest stops for a few hours because the kids were sleeping anyways so it was fun to shut the car off and rest off for an hour.
Coming back we split the drive into 2 days
We used the Disney buses to get around but it was nice to have our car for a couple of Walmart trips. We liked it so we're doing in again in December

 

[tgropp]

I find this thread interesting. Costs vary depending on hotel stays/meals etc if you dont drive straight through. I have driven twice (first two visits). I found that by driving straight through that you literally waste the first two days of your holidays trying to get catch up on sleep etc, but that was just me. Some people can adapt better. Also driving down is OK because you know what lies ahead (sunshine etc) but the drive home literally sucks because you know that youwill arrive home cranky and tired. Everyone must drive at least once though!

 

[kimmer]

Yes, the drive home can suck! So, to combat that, we started incorporating a fun stop-over on the way home. Iit's a two day drive home, so we've got an overnight. Last year, we surprised the kids with a stay a Great Wolfe Lodge in VA; this year, we're doing Virginia Beach. Helps to break up the drive home, and is like a second mini-vacation half way home. This way, our final leg home is only a 7-8 drive, instead of 2 days.

I found that by driving straight through that you literally waste the first two days of your holidays trying to get catch up on sleep etc, but that was just me.

Couldn't agree more! That's precisely why we take the two days. Sans kids, maybe you could take a day or two to rest & catch up on lost sleep, but with our three that would be virtually impossible! As soon as we arrive, they want to go, go, go

 

[MaMudduck]

Not sure this poster knows what they are talking about. We have done this drive 8 times from Peterborough both ways 95 and 75(our favorite). In 2007 we had 7 ppl and a rooftop canvas carrier and spent a total of $400. Last May we had 5 of us in our 2008 Montana and spent a total of $350. That is pretty much our average for all the trips without the carrier with our family of 5. Before '08 we used a '02 Montana and very similar. Total of 7 fill ups. Hope this helps

Rob you finally got your own username, I was just looking over the post from someone in Peterborough, and I thought "oh someone new on the DIS from Ptbo, that I didn't know...." turns out Peterpatch IS STILL a small place to live.
Thanks for the info, we have friends driving down to meet us in WDW in Dec. and I was trying to give them a cost break down for their trip.

 

[Tortuga Rob]

Rob you finally got your own username, I was just looking over the post from someone in Peterborough, and I thought "oh someone new on the DIS from Ptbo, that I didn't know...." turns out Peterpatch IS STILL a small place to live.
Thanks for the info, we have friends driving down to meet us in WDW in Dec. and I was trying to give them a cost break down for their trip.

Lol, yes I am on here with my own username now. I took a very long break from the Dis but decided when I came back to get my own id. How have you been? It has been quite a while since we have seen you.